Kenichi: The Fallen Child
by King Disen
Summary: Weak knees Kenichi, that's what everyone called him, until one day he was invited to a test of courage on Mt. Ebott. It was said that monsters lived under that very mountain and no one who has every stayed there has ever been seen again. Kenichi is Frisk. No knowledge of either is necessary. I do not own Kenichi or Undertale.
1. Prologue: Test of Courage

Test of Courage

A ten year old boy walked down the street, his brown eyes staring at a book and his spiky brown hair being ruffled by the wind. He was reading book titled, Daigacugaon's Guide to Making Friends. "Making friends is effortless once you learn the power of the casual approach," he read aloud. "Come on, what does that even mean? Is there any useful advice in this book?"

"Hey it's weak knees," a voice said behind him.

The boy turned around to two boys, one with pointed ears, black hair and black eyes and one with brown hair and black eyes. "It's Kenichi," the brown eyed boy said. "Just once can you call me by my name."

"I'll think about it," the black haired boy said.

"Niijima, unlike Daimonji there you have no right to talk," Kenichi said. "You're no braver than me."

"Yes but the difference between you and me is that I have influence. Therefore my strength by association gives me the right to bully whoever I want." Niijima let out a evil laugh.

"Yeah," Daimonji said slowly," that being said we're planning a test of courage tonight but we only have three guys and we want at least four. I think you should come."

A look of confusion covered Kenichi's face. "Are you asking me to hang out?"

"Only for the test of courage. I figure you'll be get compony for it. Cowardly and easily scared, sure fire for last place."

Kenichi thought this over for a few seconds. If he didn't go, nothing would change, he'd just be viewed as the coward, weak knees Kenichi and if he did go, he probably would be first to run. But that still meant nothing would change. It was just a huge waste of time. However a thought crossed Kenichi's mind. "If I go, will you stop calling me weak knees?"

"If you survive the night I'll even let you hang out with me."

"Fine, as long as my parents say it's okay."

"Meet us at the base of Mt. Ebott after dark. If you're not there by eight we're leaving without you. Oh, and it's over night so tell your parents you going camping with some friends or something."

* * *

Daimonji waited at the base of Mt. Ebott with Niijima when two other boys showed up. One with black hair and blue eyes and one with brown hair and black eyes. "About time you two showed up," Daimonji said. "You bring the stuff?"

"Sure did," the brown haired boy said.

"Good job Shimayama," Daimonji said. "Go ahead and set up. Tanaka, wait here with us."

"Okay," said Shimayama, the brown haired boy.

"This is going to be priceless," said Tanaka, the black haired boy.

Shimayama headed up the mountain and the rest of the group waited a little while before Kenichi showed up. "Sorry I took so long. My parents took some convincing and the made me over pack," Kenichi said. "Tanaka? Where's Shimayama?"

"He couldn't make it so it's just the four of us," Tanaka said. Kenichi gave a quizative look but didn't pursue the matter any further.

"Okay," Daimonji said, "now that you're here we're heading up the mountain. Keep up or we're leaving you behind."

"Yeah yeah," Kenichi said and followed the three up the mountain. After some time Kenichi began to tire from the hike. "This is more like a test of endurance than courage."

"Oh, are your weak knees giving out on you?" Daimonji said. "Don't collapse on us just let. We're almost there." The group soon reached the top of the mountain and put down there things.

"So why are we here?" Kenichi asked.

"You don't you know?" Niijima responded. "Legend has it that there are monsters living under this very mountain, trapped here by humans after an ancient war. As revenge, no human who ever stayed on this mountain over night has been seen again. It is said that the monsters drag them underground to steal their souls." Niijima let out a demonic laugh as Kenichi shivered.

"That's this mountain?" Kenichi said with his teeth chattering.

"Come on you're not going to chicken out already, are you?" Tanaka said condescendingly. "We just got here."

"No I just didn't know that was here. That all." It was well after dark and the only light was coming from a camp fire they started when a figure jumped out of the shadows and let out a roar. Kenichi jumped straight off the ground and began to run off. "Strategic withdraw!" he screamed as the other boys burst out laughing.

"That was great," Tanaka said as Kenichi screaming faded away.

"Shimayama, you got that on tape, right?" Daimonji asked.

"Sure did," said Shimayama dressed up as a monster.

"That's was great and all," Niijima said, "But we should probably find weak knees before he goes missing. His father has shotguns."

"Good point," Tanaka said. "Hey weak knees! You can come out now! The monster's gone!" He took out a flashlight and shined it in the direction that Kenichi ran off in. "Weak knees?" Suddenly he saw footprints and followed them to a giant hole in the ground. He shined the light down but was unable to see the bottom. "We are in so much trouble."

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Unnderground

Welcome to the Underground

Kenichi waited by the fire for something to happen when a figure jumped out from the shadows and roared. "Strategic Withdrawal!" he shouted as he jumped to his feet and ran in the opposite direction. Suddenly he tripped over a vine and started to fall as he heard laughter coming from behind him. 'This was a prank,' he thought as he continued fall. Realizing that he should have hit the ground by then, he figured out that he must have fell down a hole in the mountain. He braced himself for the inevitable impact that seemed to never come, until suddenly, everything went black.

When Kenichi opened his eyes he found himself lying in a bed of golden flowers inside a cavern. He got off the of ground and looked up to see a small opening in cave. Knowing that the hole he fell though must have been larger, he figured that it was fairly far away. He took out his flashlight, shined it on the wall and followed it up to the hole only to realize that the flashlight couldn't reach the roof. "How'd I survive a fall like that?" he said before he shook his head. "Doesn't matter. So I guess climbing is out of the question. I better find another way out before dad kills them with Sebastian."

"Sebastian?"

"His favorite shotgun," Kenichi said before realizing that there was someone else there. He spun around looking for the source of the voice, but saw nothing.

"Down here," the voice said and Kenichi looked down to a golden flower with a face. "Howdy. I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower."

Kenichi jumped backward and fell down. "Y…you can talk?"

"Of course silly."

"Then it's true. There really are monsters under this mountain."

"You're new to the underground, aren't ya? Golly you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go." There was a flash of light and Kenichi saw a red heart on his chest. "See that heart? That's your soul. The very culmination of your being. Your soul starts off weak but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What's LV stand for? Why love of course. You want some love don't you? Don't worry I'll share some with you." Flowey winked and a white pellet popped out from his head before fading away. Afterwards five more pellets popped out and formed a arc over his head. "Down here love is shared through little white… friendliness pellets."

Kenichi was immediately suspicious of the flower. Not only was it a monster, but no one was ever this nice to him. Not only that, but he seemed off. The way he was acting reminded Kenichi of Tanaka and Shimayama when they pretended to help him just so they can push him back down again. Besides, the idea of love being shared through white pellets was absolutely absurd to him. "Are you ready?" Flowey asked. "Move around. Get as many as you can!" As the pellets closed in Kenichi stepped out of the way. Flowey looked somewhat annoyed. "Hey buddy, you missed them," he said and Kenichi's suspicions were confirmed. As far as he was concerned this was all a nice act to lure him into a trap. "Let's try this again, okay?" More pellets came flying towards Kenichi and he sidestepped them once again. "Is this a joke? Are you braindead? Run. Into. The. Bullets!"

'I knew it!' Kenichi thought and more pellets came flying towards him.

"Friendliness pellets," Flowey corrected himself as the pellets flew through the air and Kenichi stepped out of the way once more. Flowey's face contorted into a demonic smile. "You know what's going on here, don't you? You just wanted to see me suffer." Suddenly the pellets surrounded Kenichi leaving no escape routes. "Die!" Flowey gave out a demonic laugh that would give Niijima a run for his money as Kenichi squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself. After a couple of seconds Flowey stopped laughing and Kenichi opened his eyes to see a stunning lack of pellets and a very confused Flowey. A fireball appeared next to Flowey and knocked him away.

What looked like a humanoid goat woman came over from the the side. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth," the monster said. Kenichi backed away slowly before bumping into a wall. "Ah do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time. What is your name my child?"

"Ke...Kenichi."

"Kenichi, that is a nice name. Come I will guide you through the catacombs." Kenichi noticed the heart on his chest fade away. "This way." Toriel began to walk away.

Kenichi was still a little uncomfortable with following a monster, but felt he had little choice. He walked out of the cavern he fell into to see what looked like the ruins of a civilization. "Wow." Seeimg this gave him a feeling he couldn't identify. A feeling that gave him the strength to move forward.

Toriel guided him into the a room. The room had a closed door in front of them, six buttons on the ground and a switch on the wall. "Welcome to your new home innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the ruins." Toriel walked over four of the six buttons, leaving the two in the middle unpressed, and then hit the switch on the wall. The door opened and Toriel said, "The ruins are filled with puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them."

Kenichi looked around trying to figure out how he was supposed to know what buttons to press. He would have assumed that it was just something that Toriel knew, but she called it a puzzle. That meant there was a way that kenichi could figure out the solution on his own. He noticed a plaque on the wall with some writing on it and walked over to it. It read, Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road. It seemed to be a clue, but it was incredible obvious. Kenichi just shrugged. "If this is the extent of the puzzles here, I think I'll be fine."

"That's the spirit. Come now, the next room awaits." Kenichi followed Toriel into a much larger room with several switches on the walls. "To make progress here you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I've labeled the ones you need to flip." Kenichi noticed another plaque and walked over to it. This one read, Stay on the path. Kenichi looked over and saw a pathway on the ground. It branched off to two switches that had yellow arrows pointing to them. "This was easy enough without the labels," Kenichi muttered to himself.

He hit the switches and spikes blocking the exit to the next room lowered into the floor. "Splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let's move to the next room."

"Wait, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Toriel giggled. "Proceed my child."

"Why are you being so nice?"

"Whatever do you mean? Why shouldn't I be?"

"I thought monsters were vicious beasts."

"Is that what the surface thinks of us now? Oh dear. I know it's been a long time, but it's still surprising that so much history was lost to you. Do not worry my child, I will educate you in what you missed when we get home."

"Well, I also heard that humans are the ones that tarped monsters down here. Why would you help me when I'm human?"

"My child, that was so long ago and an innocent child like you couldn't have anything to do with it. Now come, we can continue this in the next room." Kenichi followed Toriel into a small room with nothing but a dummy. "Now, while I will not harm you, as a human living in the underground, some monsters might try. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster you will enter a fight. While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to this dummy.

Kenichi walked over to the dummy and then there was a flash of light. Kenichi looked at his chest and saw the red heart again, what Flowey referred to as his soul. It was the one that Flowey said that he believed. "So this is a fight," he said to himself. Fight. Kenichi could practically see the word emblazoned in front of him. Fight. He could hear the word echoing in his ear. Fight. He looked at the Dummy. Fight. His vision went blurry. Fight. He knees began to shake. Fight. "I...I…" he tried to speak, but he couldn't find the words. Fight. He couldn't take this. Fight. He dashed away from the dummy and hid behind Toriel.

"You… ran away," Toriel said confused. "Truthfully that was not a poor choice. It is better to avoid conflict whenever possible. That… however, is only a dummy. It cannot harm you. It is made of cotton and has no desire for revenge. Nevermind. Stay close to me and I will keep you safe.

Toriel moved into the next room and Kenichi facepalmed after realizing what he did. "I really am a coward. How will I ever make it home like this." He dropped his head for a moment and thought about his family. His mom and dad. His little sister, Honoka. Suddenly the feeling from early too over. "Wait, no. I can't give up. My mom and dad are waiting for me. Honoka needs me. One way or another, I will get home!"

Suddenly, Kenichi heard a voice. "Fully knowing this, you are filled with determination."

"What? Who said that?"

"So you can hear me. I was worried this was a one way connection. I guess the more determined you are the stronger our connection grows. Good. Maybe you'll even see me soon." The voice giggled. "See you soon, Kenchi."

"Wait, who are you?"

Toriel reentered the room. "Are you okay my child. You've been in here a long time. Come, the next room awaits.

Kenichi saw Toriel and felt at ease. All suspicion about he being a monster faded away after sending some time following and talking to her. She reminded him of a doting mother. Kenichi Smiled. "Okay, coming." He figured he could find out about the voice latter.

Kenichi followed Toriel into the next room which had an oddly shaped path on the ground and a hall hallway to the rest of the room. "There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it." Kenichi tried to figure out what the puzzle was but didn't see the usual sign. He figured it must be on the other side of the room.

He walked towards the hallway and suddenly there was a flash of light. Kenichi saw some sort of frog monster in front of him. He looked at it and back to his soul. "I'm in another fight." His knees began to shake again and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Come on, get a grip. Remember what Toriel said. I don't have to fight." When he opened his eyes again he noticed the the word fight was emblazoned in front of him, as well as three other words, act, item, and mercy. At that moment Toriel came over and glared at the frog. The frog diverted eye contact and backed off slowly and Kenichi's soul faded away.

"See my child. I will not allow you to be harmed. Come, the puzzle's this way," Toriel said and continued down the hallway. Kenichi then saw the sign he was looking for. It read The wester room is the eastern room's blueprint.

Kenichi looked over to the eastern room and saw a bridge of spikes. "That's a steep difficulty curve." The solution the the puzzle was still quite easy to figure out. The path in the western room revealed the way across the bridge. However, measuring the amount of steps in each direction to cross the bridge would be difficult and failure had a steep price.

Kenichi followed Toriel to the front of the bridge. "This it the puzzle but…" Toriel began. "Here, take my hand for a moment." Kenichi did so and she lead him across the bridge. "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now."

"That one was."

"Come now, let's keep going." Toriel walked into the next room. Kenichi followed her into a long, empty, hallway like room. "You have done excellently thus far, my child. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you." Toriel paused. "I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this."

Kenichi stood there stunned. He was so surprised that he couldn't even process what he was seeing. By the time he snapped out of it, he was alone in the room and Toriel was nowhere to be seen. "Okay then." Kenichi couldn't see Toriel actually abandoning him. She was just too protective. He looked around and saw a pillar at the other end of the room. "She's probably hiding behind that." He took a breath and started to walk forward. The room seemed to go on forever as he continued in silence and it began to freak him out. He started to walk faster and faster until he was in a full sprint. When he finally reached the pillar, he bent over and leaned on his knees, panting. After catching his breath he got up and looked behind the pillar, but didn't see anything. "Wait, what? I could have sworn she would be here." Kenichi scratched his head for a moment. "I guess she's waiting in the next room." Kenichi walked towards the door and Toriel came out from behind the pillar. "Wait, how?"  
"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the hole time."

"But I looked there and didn't see you."

"Oh, about that, I just rotated around it to stay out of view. It was necessary you finish the room on your own. Thank you for trusting me. However there was an important reason for this exercise. To test your independence. I must attend to some business and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea, I will give you a cell phone." Toriel handed Kenichi some sort of ancient cell phone. "If you need anything, just call. Be good, alright."

After Toriel left Kenichi took the cell phone and immediately called his home number. "Sorry," a robotic voice said, "but your call could not be completed as dialed…" Kenchi hung up and tried again only to be meet with the same massage.

"Sorry to tell you," the voice from earlier said, "But the underground and the surface don't have compatible phone coverage."

"Great." Kenichi sighed. "Who are you anyway?" There was no answer. Kenichi sighed again and took out Daigacugaon's Guide to Making Friends, which he brought with him on the test of courage, and began to read.

Much time passed and Toriel gave him a few calls telling him she was going to take a little longer. First it was five minutes more, then a little longer when a small white dog snached the flour away from her. The next call came from the dog which seemed to seal her phone. Kenichi figured she'd get it back, so he didn't worry and kept reading. There was a few more calls from the dog before Kenichi finished the book. He sat there for a few minutes until he got another call from the dog. "Maybe I should meet her ahead." He pondered this for a moment. "Yeah, I can't get home if I always rely on Toriel to help me. I have to do this."

Kenichi took one step out of the room before his phone rang. "Hello? Hello? This is Toriel. My apologies. A strange dog kidnapped my if you called I could not have helped you. However I have recovered it. And you are still in that room, are you not?"

"Uh, yes I'm still there."

"What a good child you are. There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good alright."

"Okay," Toriel hung up. "Maybe I should go back." Kenichi shook his head "No I made my choice. I need to do this."

"This fact fills you with determination."

"It's you again. Who are you?"

"Let us save introductions till you can see me."

"If I can see you."

"Indeed."

Kenichi sighed and looked around. He saw a door to the north and the southwest, and a frog monster next to him. "Excuse me, human," The frog said. "I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them, they may not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please use some mercy human."

"Don't worry, I'm practically incapable of fighting as it is. Besides, I don't want to kill anyone, monster or not.

"Well," the voice said, "you're better than most humans."

"Wait, you have a problem with humans?"

"Yes, and I would have killed you if I could."

"Great, I'm stuck with something that hates humans."

"You're also the only one that can hear me."

"Fantastic." Kenichi sighed. "Do you know where to go?"

"Yes but why should I help. Watching you is the only fun I get. Besides, didn't you want to do this on your own?"

"I guess." Kenichi went to the norther room, as it was closer and in it was a bowl of candy that said take one, so he did. He then tried to inspect the candy.

"Monster candy," the voice said. "Heals 10 HP. Has a distinct non-licorice flavor."

"HP?"

Right, I forgot you're new here. Wounds in the underground are measured in HP. When you're hurt, your HP goes down. Food is entwined with magic, so it can heal wounds. There are still other reasons to eat though. We still get hungry."

"I thought you weren't going to help me."

"Well I have to do something. So I thought I'd narrate. You know, like how I keep telling you when you're filled with determination."

"Fine, knock yourself out."

Kenichi went back to the main room and headed to the southwest exit, but as he did so there was a flash of light and another frog monster appeared. Kenichi remembered what the other one said and reached for the act sign. The sign glowed and a menu opened out of it. It had three choices, check, compliment, and threat. "Like a threat from me would scare anyone," Kenichi said sarcastically, and the threat option faded away. "Interesting, well, why not check it." The check option immediately glowed and the menu disappeared.

"Froggit," the voice said, "life is difficult for this monster."

"I know how you feel, but hey, you're probably braver than me. And you look friendly enough." The Froggit bushed as it sent a few flies after Kenichi. Kenichi thought nothing of it at first, but after one touched him, he realized that it hurt. As more came at him jumped for cover until they were all gone.

"Froggit seems reluctant to fight you," the voice said.

"You don't want to fight me either, do you? Let's stop this." Froggit seemed to croak in agreement. It walked away and Kenichi's soul faded from sight. "I did it. You know, these monsters seem kinda nice at heart."

"I know."

Kenichi noticed a few gold coins on the ground. "Wait, what's that?"

"Oh, that's gold, it's the currency down here. You should pick it up. You'll need it."

"But didn't it belong to that Froggit?"

"It's fine. He left it behind to thank you. You find that alot of monsters will do that."

"Okay." Kenichi picked up the gold and continued into the next room. As he walked through it the floor gave out from under him. He screamed as he fell, but when he hit the ground a pile of leaves broke his fall.

"You should have seen the look on your face," the voice said and laughed. "Do you always scare this easy?"

Kenichi whimpered. "That's what I'm told."

The voice continued laughing. "This is going to be fun. Come on the exit is right over there." Kenchi looked in front of him and saw two stair cases. He went up the one on his right and found himself on the other side of the hole he fell down. "By the way, you were supposed to fall down. See the ground in the center of the room. It looks different, doesn't it?"

"Now that you mention it, it covered in cracks."

"That's right. When the floor looks like that, it's been weakened. This room is meant to teach you that so you know for future puzzles. You step on one of these floors, they give out, and a pile of leaves breaks your fall. After a while the hole in the floor magically seals itself back up."

"Cool." Kenichi continued forward into the next room where Toriel call him not two steps in.

"Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular… which do you prefer, Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

"Um, Cinnamon, I guess."

"Oh, I see. Thank you very much!" Kenichi hung up the phone and took two more steps forwards before his phone rang again. "Hello? This is Toriel. You do not dislike butterscotch do you? I know what your preference is but, would you turn up your nose if you found some on your plate?"

"No of course not. Butterscotch is fine."

"Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient by the way." Kenichi hung up the phone once more and looked at the room. In front of him was a wall of spikes a rock and a stone plate. To his side was another sign.

He walked over to the sign and read, "Three out of four gray rocks recommend you push them." Kenichi looked back at the rock and the stone plate. "Are all the puzzles this straightforward?"

"More or less," the voice said.

Kenichi went over to push the rock but there a flash of light and a monster that looked kind of like a bug covered by a sheet appeared. Kenichi decided to check this one too. "Whinsum" the voice said. "This monster is too sensitive to fight."

"I'm sorry," Whinsum said and a bunch of butterflies surrounded Kenichi, but didn't make contact. After the flies, Kenichi knew better than to touch them. He was still wounded from the flies. The butterflies left and Kenichi let out a sigh of relief. He then noticed the mercy sign was letting a a light glow. He put his hand over it and Whinsum perked up. "You don't want to fight either. I… I guess I'll be leaving then. Sorry for the misunderstanding." As Whinsum left Kenichi's soul faded form view.

"How'd it know I didn't want to fight?" Kenichi asked.

"Monsters have the ability to sense when they're being shown mercy," the voice told him. "It's all in the face. Although some are aware of the signs you see in battle."

"Speaking of which, do you have an explanation for those?"

"No."

"Okay then." Kenichi pushed the rock onto the stone plate and the spikes lowered into the ground. He then continued into the next room.

In front of him was a sea of the cracked ground. He gulped. "Well, here goes nothing." He stepped forward and the ground gave out from under him. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited to land in the leaves. After he landed, he opened his eyes and looked around. Despite the fact that the floor above was completely cracked, the leaf piles were only in select areas, leaving what seemed like a path through them. He then noticed another sign. It read, Please don't step on the leaves. He figured it was some kind of hint, like the other signs, but this one was a bit more cryptic. "Let's see. Don't step on the leaves, so it wants me to stay off the leaves. I got it. The path down here through the leaves reveals a stable path through the cracked floor."

"Congrats. Now let us see how long it takes you to use that path."

Kenichi went back upstairs and began on the path. Sure enough it was stable, but he had trouble memorizing the path and fell down five more times before finally making it through. Once he finally made it he entered the next room.

There was a flash of light and a gelatin like monster was in front of him. "Okay, check."

"Moldsmal. Stereotypical, curvaceously attractive, but no brains."

"Seriously." The Moldsmal shot out a projectile and it split into multiple projectiles. He dove to the side to avoid them and then noticed his mercy sign glowing again. He put his hand over it and and Moldsmal left.

After his soul faded away, he looked around the room and noticed it was like the previous room with the rock, only this time there was three rocks. He pushed two but when he got to the third something strange happened. The rock spoke. "Whoa there partner, who said you can push me around?"

"It can speak!"

"Oh yeah," the voice said, "did I forget to tell you that some of the rocks can do that here."

"Yes!"

"Well the sign did say three out of four. You pushed three so far, and this one makes four. Try talking to it."

"Sorry I pushed you, but can you please move over. I need to get through."

"So you're askin' me to move over," the rock said. "Okay, just for you, pumpkin." The rock moved a little towards the stone plate.

"Um can you please move a little more?"

"Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty how's this?" the rock moved up a bit."

"No I need you to move onto the stone plate."

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" the rock finally move onto the stone plate and the spikes lowered into the ground.

"Thanks." Kenichi walk toward the exit, but as he approached, the spikes popped back out of the floor, causing him to yelp in surprise. He looked back over to the rock which moved off the plate. He walked back to the rock and said, "Excuse me but can you please stay on the plate?"

"Hmm? You wanted me to stay there? You're giving me a real workout." The rock moved back onto the plate and the spikes lowered once more.

"Thanks again." Kenichi then moved onto the next room.

In the next room was a table with cheese and a mouse hole. "Knowing the mouse might one day leave it's hole and get the cheese," the voice said, "it fills you with determination."

"No, I'm pretty sure it doesn't."

"Sorry. I just felt like saying that."

Kenichi moved on to the next room where a ghost that looked like a stereotypical ghost in a white sheet was blocking the path. He walked up to it and saw it was pretending to sleep. "Are they gone yet," the ghost whispered and continued to fake snoring.

"Um," Kenichi said, "excuse me, but…" There was a flash of light and Kenichi entered a fight with the ghost. "Okay then, check."

"Napstablook, this monster doesn't seem to have a sense of humor."

"Oh, I'm real funny," Napstablook said and began to cry. The tears headed towards Kenichi and Kenichi dove to the side to avoid them. He knew better.

"Come on, there's no need to cry," he told Napstablook. Napstablook just stood there. "Come on, cheer up."

"Let me show you something," Napstablook said and then cried himself a top hat. "I call it the dapper blook. Do you like it?"

Kenichi gave a little giggle. "Yeah, it's cool. I never knew tears could do that."

"Oh, gee." Kenchi's soul faded from view and the fight ended. "I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around. But today I met somebody nice." Napstablook paused. "Oh I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way."

"Okay, maybe I'll see you again." Napstablook faded away. "I kinda like him."

"I don't know," the voice said. "He seems too depressed for my tastes."

"Come on, let's keep going." Kenichi came to a crossroads with one path in front of him and one path on his left. He decided to head forward and came to a room with two spider webs and a sign. The sign read Spider bake sale. All proceeds go to real spiders. He looked over to a large web and there was a sign the told him a cup of Spider Cider was eighteen gold. As he only had eight gold he moved on to the small web. It said that a Spider Donut was seven gold. He thought about buying when his stomach growled. "Okay then." He took out seven gold and tossed it into the web a spider came down with a donut and took the money. Kenichi picked up the donut and examined it.

"Spider Donut. Heal's twelve HP. A donut made with Spider Cider it the batter."

"Spider Cider? Do I even what to know?"

"Do you intend to eat that?"

Kenichi stomach growled again. "Yes."

"Then no, you don't want to know."

Kenichi ate the donut and then moved on to the next room. In the next room there was a sign the read Did you miss it? Spider bake sale, back and on your left. Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders. "Wait, of spiders!? But it's made by spiders. What are they cannibals?"

"I guess. But aren't you grossed out?"

"A little I guess. But more so that the spiders are killing each other to make donuts."

"Actually, I think they use dead spiders."

"I hope so. I'd hate to support such a thing otherwise."

Kenichi continued through the room and got another call. "Hello?" Toriel said from the other end. "I just realized that it has been awhile since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. There are probably a lot of things lying about here and there. You can pick them up, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you may see something you really like. You will want to leave room in your pockets for that."

"Okay, see you latter." Kenichi hung up. "I think she's onto me."

"Nah, that's just what she's like," the voice said.

Kenichi moved onto the next room. In the room there was six patches of cracked ground and spikes blocking the exit. There was also a sign that read There is only one switch.

He figured that the switch was under one of the patches of cracked ground and started walking towards the one on the top left when there was a flash of light and a monster with one huge eyeball appeared "Aaaand check."

"Loox, don't pick on him. Family name: Eyewalker."

The Loox said, "Don't pick on me," and a bunch of bubbles came at Kenichi, who maneuvered around them.

"Don't worry," Kenichi said. "I won't pick on you, and I know how you feel. I get picked on all the time.

"Finally, someone who gets it." The bubbles came back and Kenichi dodged again. The mercy sign glowed and Kenichi ended the battle.

After his soul faded away, Kenichi headed for the top left cracked patch again. There was no switch, but the was something sticking out of the ground. He walked over to it and it popped out of the ground. Then there was a flash of light and Kenichi was in a fight with what looked like a carrot monster with a creepy smile. "Check, check check!"

"Vegetoid. Serving size: one monster. Not monitored by the USDA."

"That doesn't help at all!"

"Part of a complete breakfast," the Vegetoid said and white carrots rained from the sky. After seeing more food, Kenichi's stomach growled again. The Vegetoid looked excited and said, "Eat your greens." Carrots rained from the sky once more, but this time some were green. Kenichi was suspicious at first, but as hungry as he was, he decide to risk it and grabbed a green carrot. After it didn't hurt him, he ate it. While he was still hungry, he felt a little better. After that the mercy sign glowed and Kenichi ended the battle.

He found the stairs and head back up this time he tried the bottom left. There was nothing there but an old faded ribbon. Kenichi picked it up and examined it. "Faded Ribbon, armor defence three," the voice said. "If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard."

"Wait, are you telling me that this is some sort of armor?"

"Yes, many clothing options are magically enchanted to have defensive capabilities. This one makes whoever is wearing it cuter, making enemies less inclined to hurt you."

"Nice!" Kenichi tied the ribbon into his hair.

"Now you can finally take off that bandage on your cheek."

"No I can't. I have an injury there. Besides, there's no reason to remove it. The ribbon goes in my hair, not on my cheek."

"Suit yourself."

Kenichi tried the bottom right next. Down there was another Vegatoid, which he tiptoed around. Next the top right which was empty. Next the bottom middle. Down there he found Napstablook. Kenichi walked over to him. "Hi."

"I fell down a hole and now I can't get up," Napstablook said. "Go on without me."

"Excuse me, but, can't ghosts fly?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks." After that, Napstablook started to fly away. "See you again, I guess."

"I hope so."

Kenichi headed back upstairs and tried the final patch of cracked ground, where he finally found the switch. "Of course it's the last place I look." He flipped the switch and heard the spikes lower into the ground and then headed to the next room.

In that room there was three colored switches next to pillars. One blue, one green, one red. Kenichi walked over to the usual sign on the wall and read it. "Study this room carefully, as the next three rooms are based off it." he read. "Okay then. He looked around again before heading into the next room. In that room there was a sign that read Press the blue switch, but Kenichi didn't see any switches. "They must be hidden." He tried to remember where the switch was located in the previous room and after some searching, he found it in the ground next to the pillar by the entrance. The next room told him to press the red switch, which he found hidden next to the pillar by the exit. The third room told him to press the green switch, which he found next to the pillar in the middle of the room. He then move on.

He found himself at another crossroad, with one path heading to the north and one to the east. He decided to go east first. There there was another door and a Froggit that told him that he saw Toriel come through with some groceries. Kenichi headed forwards and saw a huge city, which he decided to stay out of, and a toy knife on the ground, which he left there, despite the voice saying he might need it. He was determined to not hurt anyone. Besides, with his lack of muscles, he didn't think he could.

He went back and to the north. "Oh dear," he heard Toriel's voice say, "that took longer than I thought it would." He saw Toriel walk to the side of a large, leafless tree and take out her phone. Suddenly, she noticed, him put the phone, down and ran over to him. "How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt?"

"Only a little," Kenichi said. "I've had much worse. I'll be fine."

"Come now, don't be stubborn. I will heal you." Toriel but her hand on Kenichi's shoulder and Kenichi felt his wounds go away. "I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try and surprise you like this. Well I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one." Toriel lead Kenichi forward to a cute. tidy house.

"Wow."

"Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the ruins gives you determination," the voice said.

Kenichi continued inside. "Do you smell that?" Toriel asked. "Surprise! It's butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

Kenichi took in a whiff of the scent. "Smells delicious."

"I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here."

"Wait, living…"

"So I will hold off on the snail pie for tonight."

"Snail pie. I don't…"

"Here I have another surprise for you. Follow me." She walked off to the right.

"Toriel. Wait." Kenichi walked after her.

"This is it." Toriel said in front of a door. "A room of your own. I hope you like it!"

"This is very nice and all, but I really…"

"Is something burning. Um, make yourself at home." Toriel then ran off.

"Toriel! Wait!" Kenichi called after her, but to no avail. He sighed. "Guess I'll look around." He went into the room and found it rather cozy. The moment he saw the bed the lack of sleep hit him all at once. He laid down on the bed and fell asleep before he could even get under the covers. When he woke up the lights were off, and he was under the covers. He figured Toriel must have done that. He also noticed that there was a piece of pie on the ground, in a plate of course. His stomach growled at the sight of food and he picked it up and began to eat it. As he ate, he decided to take a look around the house.

Kenichi exited the room and and went into the next room. It seemed to be Toriel's. He noticed an open book on Toriel's desk that appeared to be her diary and couldn't help but peek inside. There was a circled passage that read Why did the skeleton what a friend? Because she was feeling bonely. The voice snickered and Kenichi growned. "Why'd it have to be a pun?"

"I thought it was funny. You should see the rest of the page."

"Is it filled with more puns?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll pass."

Kenichi exited the room and walked over to the next door which had a sign that read Room under renovations. "Okay." Kenichi then noticed a mirror and decided to take a look at himself.

"It's you." the voice said.

"No really, I couldn't tell."

"Then you must be pretty stupid."

"It's called sarcasm!"

"I know. I'm just trying to get under your skin."

Kenichi sighed and moved on. He went back into the living room where he found Toriel, and a bookcase. "Oh, you are awake," Toriel said. "You were asleep for quite some time. Do you need me to heat up your pie?"

"No it's fine. I already ate it. But I could use more to eat."

"Stay right there. I'll get you another slice of pie."

"Thanks."

Toriel walked over to the kitchen and Kenichi took a book out of the bookcase. It seem to be a history book and he began to read it when Toriel came back and handed him another slice of pie. He stayed there readed and eating for quite some time, Toriel asking if he wanted more every time he finished a slice. What he found out sickened him. It turned out the legend only covered a little of the history of humans and monsters. There was a time where both humans and monster ruled over the surface and one day war broke out. After the humans won they sealed the monsters underground with a magical barrier. And that was over one hundred years ago. No wonder the idea of monsters devolved into dangerous beasts. But what bothered Kenichi the most was that monsters never knew the joy of the sunrise or sitting under the stars. "That barrier has to go," he whispered.

"I've never felt you more determined than now," the voice said. "I'm beginning to like you." Kenichi looked over to Toriel, who was also reading, but saw something else as well, someone else. A girl in a green and yellow striped shirt, but she was transparent and floating a few inches off the ground. But there was one other thing that surprised Kenichi.

"You're human."

"Oh you can see me now. Yes I'm human, or at least I was when I was still alive."

"But you said you hated humans."

"I did and I do. Still, you're different. You're not like other humans I know. You're nice to monsters. Did you have problems with humans too?"

"Some. I was bullied relentlessly. But I have a family that needs me. I have to get home."

"I guess we have some things in common. I'm Chara, nice to finally meet you."

"Kenichi, same."

Kenichi got up and walked over to Toriel. "Um excuse me."

"Oh," Toriel said, "done reading alread? I just want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. You seem to like to learn, and I've always wanted to be a teacher. I am glad to have you living here."

"About that… Toriel… I… I need to get home."

"What? This…this is your home now. Um... would you like to hear about this book I'm reading. It's called seventy two uses for snails. How about it."

"I'm sorry but I need to get back to my family."

"Um… How about an exciting snail fact. Did you know that snails make terrible shoelaces. Interesting, no?"

Kenichi looked confused. "I don't get it," he said and shook his head. "Focuss. I'm sorry Toriel. You've been nothing but kind to me, but I have a mom, a dad, and a little sister I need to get back to. I can't stay here."

Toriel stayed silent for a few moments. "I have to do something. Stay here." And with that she ran off. Kenichi gave chase and followed her into the basement. "You wish to return home, do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. A one way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs. Toriel continued forwards.

"Toriel wait!" Kenichi chased aftered her.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. The leave. They die. You naive child. If you leave the ruins… they… Asgore will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? Go to your room." She continued forwards again.

"They die."

"Giving up already?" Chara asked.

Kenichi gulped. "No. I made my choice, and even though I'm scared, I can't give up. Something deep down won't let me."

"That's your determination. Go get em."

Kenichi continued after Toriel, and when he caught up she said, "Do not try and stop me. This is your final warning," and then continued forwards. Kenichi chased after her once more, and they came to a huge door. "You want to leave that badly?"

"I don't have a choice."

Toriel grunted. "You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive." There was a flash of light and the room seemed darker. It happened again, and again and again and the room seemed to get darker each time. There was one final flash of light and suddenly Kenichi was in a fight… with Toriel.

"I won't fight you!" Kenichi shouted and placed his hand on the mercy sign.

"What are you doing?!" Toriel sent out a fury of fireballs that were incredibly hard to avoid. Kenichi ran from the left to the right, but to no avail. He got hit again and again. "Attack or run away!"

"No! I can'!"

"What are you proving this way?!"

"It's not what I'm proving! It's just what I have to do."

"Fight me or leave!"

"Trust me I want to run, but this time I won't!" Kenichi felt his wounds growing. He couldn't take much more of this.

"You will never survive!" The fireballs kept coming but this time they seemed to avoid Kenichi.

"Look this isn't just about me! My family needs me!"

"I can't let you die like the others!"

"And then there's the barrier. I can't find out how to break it from here!"

"You think you can break the barrier!? It has stood for over one hundred years! What chance do you have?!"

"I don't know! But I have to try! My whole life I've been nothing but a coward and a quitter. But for the first time, I have found a reason to muster up my courage. I found something I need to do. I found something I can't run away from!"

The fireballs stopped. "You are serious, aren't you?"

"More than I have ever been in my life."

"Then promise me. Asgore's plan must not come to pass. He plans to collect seven human souls to break the barrier. You must not let him have your soul. You must live. Promise me you will not let him have your soul."

"I promise. I may want to break the barrier, but I also have a family to return to."

"Fine then. My expectations, my loneliness, my fear, for you, my child, I will put them aside." Kenichi's soul faded from view and the fight ended. "If you truly wish to exit the ruins, I will not stop you. However the door only opens one way. When you leave, you will not be able to come back." Toriel gave Kenichi a hug. "Be careful, my child." And with that, Toriel left.

Kenichi walked through the door and found himself in a dark room. "Howdy," a voice said.

Kenichi's eye widened in horror as he turned to see Flowey the flower. "Strategic withdrawal!" he shouted as he ran away, but he was stopped at every turn by friendliness pellets, as Flowey called them.

"Clever. Verrryyy clever. You think you're really smart, don't you."

"I swear I have no idea what you're talking about."

"In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of single person." Flowey giggled. "I bet you feel really great. You didn't kill anyone this time. But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die, you'll die, you'll die. Or will you kill out of fear. Or maybe you'll give up entirely on this world, and let me inherit the power to control it? I am the prince of this world's future. Don't worry my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is so much more interesting." Flowey gave out a demonic laugh that sent shivers down Kenichi's spine, and then disappeared into the ground. Kenichi spent a few moments shaking off the fear Flowey invoked into him, and then continued into the unknown.

* * *

Haruo Niijima climbed up Mt. Ebott with some rope. Once he reached the top he located the hole that Kenichi supposedly fell down. The others agreed to pretend like it never happened in order to avoid Kenichi's father's wrath. Niijima however had a feeling there was more to this than just Kenichi falling down the hole, something he couldn't miss. He tied the rope to a tree and headed down the hole. Once at the bottom, he failed to find Kenichi, already a good sign for Niijima as judging by how deep the hole was, it would be a miracle if he survived. Niijima continued through the cavern until he saw what looked like the ruins of a civilization. "Now this is interesting."

To Be Continued...


	3. Chapter 2: Snow and Bones

Snow and Bones

Kenichi stepped out of the ruins and was blasted by cold air. He looked around to see barren trees and snow everywhere. Kenichi shivered. "How does snow even get down here," he asked himself. He walked down the path, stepping over a stick only to hear it crack behind him. He spun around, but didn't see anything but the cracked stick. He picked up his pace and eventually came to a bridge with a badly made gate on it. He stopped to look at it when he heard loud footstep in the snow behind him. He froze, unable to move. Even his usually wobbly knees stayed locked in place.

"Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand." Kenichi's vision went blurry as he turned around to face the voice. He could only make out a figure roughly his size. The figure reached out his arm. Kenichi's knees suddenly started shaking. He finally grabbed the figure's hand and then he heard a frat sound.

The sound snapped Kenichi out of his episode and he noticed that the figure was a skeleton in a blue sweatshirt and black pants. The skeleton gave out a slight laugh. "The old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. It's always funny." Kenichi was already put off by the guy. He didn't tend to get along with pranksters, usually because the prank was on him. Heck, the whole reason he was down here was a prank gone wrong. "Anyways, you're a human, right?"

"Maybe," Kenichi said. "What's it to you?"

"Wow, no need to get so defensive. I can tell. I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I am actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now, but y'know, I don't really care about capturing anyone. Now my brother Papyrus, he's a human hunting fanatic."

"Great."

"Hey, actually, I think that's him over there."

"Fantastic. Is there any more good news?"

"Come on. I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy. Yeah go right through. My bro made the bars to wide to stop anyone." Kenichi didn't like this, but it seemed he didn't have a choice. Sans led Kenichi through the gate to an area with a sentry-station and a suspiciously shaped lamp. "Quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp."

"I guess you can call it that." Kenichi walked over to the lamp, which was shaped exactly like him. It was impossible that it was a coincidence, wasn't it? But how'd this skeleton know what he looked like if they never met. No matter how, Kenichi felt like this was one big trap.

"Hurry, he's coming." Kenichi got behind the lamp. Even if it was a prank, he had little choice but to play along. Once he was behind the lamp a taller skeleton came over. "Sup, bro."

"You know what's sup, brother!" said the tall skeleton, that Kenichi assumed was Papyrus. "It's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles. You just hang around outside your sation! What are you even doing?!"

"Staring at this lamp. It's really cool. Do you want to look?"

"I knew it," Kenichi muttered.

"I don't know, "Chara said. "Let's wait."

"No!" Papyrus screamed. "I don't have time for that! What if a human comes through here!?"

"Well. I guess this wasn't planned after all," Kenichi whispered.

"I want to be ready! I will be the one! I must be the one! I will capture a human. Then I, the great Papyrus, will get all the things I truly deserve. Respect, recognition. I will finally be able to join the royal guard. People will ask to be my friend. I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning."

Sans hummed in thought. "Maybe this lamp will help you."

"Seriously," Kenichi whispered, "if he keeps that up I'm going to get caught. Why even send me behind the lamp."

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled. "You are not helping! You lazy bones!"  
"Seems he's just messing with his brother," Chara said. "He probably knows he won't check behind the lamp."

"All you do is sit and boondoggle! You get lazier and lazier every day!"

"Hey, take it easy," Sans said. "I've gotten a ton of work done today. A skele-ton." Suddenly Kenichi heard a rim shot and giggled while Chara burst out laughing.

"Wait a minute," Kenichi whispered. "Was that a rim shot? Where'd it come from?"

"Don't know, don't care," Chara said. "It was funny. Even you thought so." Kenichi sighed and his distrust of Sans went away. He wasn't a prankster as much as a comedian. Pranks were just part of the gig.

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled.

"Come on, you're smiling."

"I am and I hate it!" Papyrus sighed. "Why does someone as great as me, have to do so much just to get some recognition?"

"Wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone." The the rim shot happened again and Kenichi giggled once more as Chara burst out laughing.

Chara said, "I thought you didn't like puns."

"It's the rim shot," Kenichi said. "It makes any pun better."

Papyrus grunted. "I will attend to my puzzles. As for your work, Put a little more… backbone into it!" Kenichi winced as Chara snicered. Papyrus ran off laughing with this Nyehehe laugh and Kenichi smiled. He kind of liked Papyrus. If only he wasn't trying to capture him. Papyrus came back over and gave one more Heh before leaving.

"Okay," Sans said. "You can come out now."

Kenichi came out from behind the lamp and walked over to Sans. "Sorry," he said.

"What for kid?"

"I didn't trust you. I thought this was all one big trap."

"It's okay. You got a name kid?"

"Kenichi."

"Good to know. Now you oughta get going. He might come back. And if he does… you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes." Kenichi took his advice and began to head forwards. "Actually, hey, hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"My brother's been kind of down lately. He's never seen a human before and seeing you might make his day."

"Wait, doesn't that make the hole lamp thing pointless?"

"I guess, but it was fun, right?"

"I guess, but I don't know if letting him see me is a good idea."

"Don't worry, he's not dangerous, even if he tries to be."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead." Sans walked of in the opposite direction and Kenichi scratched his head.

"I guess we should get going?"

"Sure," Chara said. "I'm sure we'll see him again. Something about him seems off though. I think we should consider ourselves lucky he's on our side."

"I do. It's nice to not have to worry about him trying to capture me at least."

Kenichi moved on and came to a crossroad with one path to the north and one to the east. He decided to head to the north first. There he found a river and a fishing rod affixed to the ground. He decided to reel in the line and on the end he found a photo of a monster and a note that read Call me! Here's my number! He decided not to call and cast the line back out to the river.

Kenichi headed back and to the east when there was a flash of light and he ended up up a fight with a monster that looked like a large bird with a snowflake like face. "Check."

"Snowdrake," Cara said. "This teen comedian fights to keep a captive audience."

Kenichi winced when he realized that the monster's name was a pun. "Ice puns are snow problem," Snowdrake said and Kenichi winced again. Snowdrake sent snowflakes after Kenichi, but they were easy enough to dodge. Kenichi opened up the act menu and tried to figure out what to do. In the menu there was three other options other than check. Laugh, heckle and joke.

"This isn't good," Kenichi said.

"Why not?" Chara asked.

"Because none of these are viable options. I can't laugh at his jokes, I can't tell any jokes, and I'm not going to heckle and crush his dreams."

"Well the menu just gives you hints. You've done well without it so far. Why not try and come up with another option."

Kenichi thought about it and figured it out. "I can encourage him. Hey, Snowdrake."

"That's what they call me," Snowdrake said.

"I hate to tell you, but I don't like puns." Snowdrake looked sad. "But I can see you really want to be a comedian, and I think that's great. It's a noble profession to make people smile and laugh, but puns are the most basic and frankly the least popular of all jokes. If being a comedian is your dream, fight for it. Learn to make everyone laugh. I know you can."

"You mean it?"

"Yes It won't be easy though. Unlike ice puns, real jokes take alot of effort.

"Who said ice puns don't?"

"You. Remember? I believe your exact words were, ice puns are snow problem.""

Snowdrake giggled. "Good one. Okay I'll try. Make sure to come see me when I make it big."

"I wouldn't miss it," Kenichi said and ended the fight.

"You're good at this," Chara said. "Not only do you refuse to hurt anyone, but you try to help them too. You may be human, but but the more I'm with you, the more I grow to like you."

"Thanks."

Kenichi continued to the east, where he found Papyrus and Sans. "Wait how'd Sans get here?" Kenichi asked. "He was heading in the opposite direction."

"I told you something was off about him," Chara said.

"Let's calm down. He probably passed us while we were by the river."

"I don't think so, but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Kenichi looked around and found that this was the only way forwards. It seemed he would have to show himself to Papyrus after all. "Wait," he whispered. "Maybe I can sneak around them."

"So as I was saying about Undyne…" Papyrus said as Kenichi tiptoed towards the side of the two skeletons. Then there was a loud crunch sound that came from a patch of hard snow under Kenichi causing the two to turn towards him. And then back to each other then back to him and so on until they were spinning in place. When they stopped they looked at Kenichi again and then turned their backs on him. "Sans! Oh my god! Is that… a human!?"

They turned back to Kenichi, but seemed to be staring past him. "Uhhhh, actually," Sans said, "I think that's a rock."

"Oh."

"Hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

"Oh my god! Is… is that a human?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god! Sans! I finally did it! Undyne will… I'm gonna… I'll be so… popular! Popular! Popular!" Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat. "Human! You shall not pass this area! I, the great Papyrus, will stop you! I will then capture you! You will be delivered to the capital! Then… then! I'm not sure what happens next. In any case… continue only if you dare." Papyrus ran off doing his Nyehehe laugh.

Kenichi sighed. "That went well," he said sarcastically.

"Don't sweat it kid," Sans said. "I'll keep an eye socket out for ya."

"Thanks… I guess." Sans walked off.

Kenichi continued forwards and there was a flash of light. He ended up in a fight with a a small snowman looking monster with a large hat made of ice. "Check."

"Ice Cap," Chara said. "This teen wonders why it isn't named Ice Hat."

"I can answer that. Ice Hat wouldn't be a pun. Are all the monsters' names puns here."

Chara snickered. "I hope so."

"Where's your hat?" Ice Cap asked condescendingly and snow blow passed Kenichi leaving a path that had a wave like design that Kenichi had to follow. Kenichi opened up the act menu and there was two hints that read Ignore and Steal. Kenichi didn't want to steal anything but it did tell him that the hints were about the hat, so Kenichi stopped looking at Ice Cap's hat. "Hello, my hat's up here." The snow came back and Kenichi avoided it once more. He then continued to not look at Ice Cap's hat. "Okay! I'll just ignore you too!" Icicles came out of the ground and Kenichi jumped to the side to avoid them. The mercy sign glowed and Kenichi ended the fight.

"Well he wasn't very nice," said Kenichi.

"Agreed," Chara said. "But you can't expect all monsters to be saints. Besides, he's a teenager."

"I guess that's true. Let's keep going." Kenchi continued forward and came to a sign the read Absolutely no moving! "I wonder what that's about."

"I don't know, but we can't very well listen to it if we want to keep going."

"True enough." Kenichi head forwards past a sentry-station when a dog rose out of the station and he froze.

"Did something move?" the dog asked. "Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. If something was moving, for example a human, I'll make sure it never moves again!" The was a flash of light as Kenichi screamed and then the two were in a fight.

"I'm just going to assume you want to check," Chara said. "Let's see. Doggo. Easily excited by movement. Hobbies include, squirrels.

"Don't move an inch," Doggo said as he scanned the area. Kenichi stood in place, but his shaky knees gave him away. "There!" Doggo leapt forwards and knocked Kenichi over. Doggo then got off the ground and swinted. "Where'd it go?"

"Idiot!" Chara shouted. "He can only see moving things! If you stay completely still, he can't see you!"

"Easier said than done," Kenichi whispered. Doggo rubbed his eyes and Kenichi took the opportunity to get off the ground.

"Where are you?" Doggo asked as he scanned the area once more. This time Kenichi was prepared. He was bent over, resting his hands on his knees in order to keep them still.

"Now what?" Kenichi asked quietly.

"Well, he's a dog," Chara said. "Why not pet him?"

"Because I'd have to move."

"Just wait for him to rub his eyes again."

Once Doggo rubbed his eyes again, Kenichi took Chara's advice and pet him. Doggo began to freak out and Kenichi took the opportunity to slip away.

He came across Sans again and decided to talk to him. "Hi."

"Hey kid," Sans said. "I have some advice for you. My brother has a very special attack. If you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you."

"Um… okay."

"Here's an easy way to keep it in mind. Image a stop sign. When you see a stop sign, you stop, right?"

"Yes… but… stop signs are red."

"Well imagine a blue stop sign instead. When fighting, think about blue stop signs. Simple, right?"

"No not really. Wait… do you even have stop signs down here?"

"Of course we do… somewhere. I'm sure of it."

"Okay… wait, have you see the stop signs."

"Maybe. Why you ask?"

"Kenichi," Chara said, "I think you should drop the subject and move on. I don't think we're getting any straight answers out of this guy."

"It doesn't matter," Kenichi told Sans. "I better get moving."

"Okay. See you around kid."

Kenichi came to another crossroad with one path to the north and the other to the east. He decided to check the north again and there was a flash of light. He found himself in a fight with a dog in ammor with a sword and shield. He checked it.

"Lesser Dog," Chara said. "Wields a stone dogger made of pomer-granite."

"Doggor? Seriously?"

Lesser Dog barked excitedly and jump towards him. Kenichi stepped to the side to avoid it. He opened up the act menu to see five choices, sort of. All five of them said pet. "Really?" He barely lifted his hand to pet the dog and the dog got really excited before Kenichi could even get his hand close. "Wait… did it's neck just grow?" A blue spear came at Kenichi and he tied to dodge but it followed him everywhere he went. He ran away from it, but it caught up and knocked him down. "Ouch."

"Idiot! Remember what Sans said? When an attack it blue, stand still and it won't hurt you!"

"Oh... yeah." Kenichi looked at Lesser Dog again and was sure it's neck was longer than before. Despite the mercy sign already glowing he stayed in the fight a little longer. He lightly touched Lesser Dog and it's neck grew again. The dog leaped forward and knocked Kenichi down. Completely freaked out by the dog with the growing neck he quickly hit the mercy sign and ran off.

He continued north and found a snowman. He walked up to it and it spoke. "Hello," it said. "I am a snowman."

"And you can talk."

"Not surprised this time?" Chara asked in a mocking tone.

"After the talking rock, nothing is going to surprise me."

"I want to see the world," the snowman continued. "But I cannot move. If you would be so kind, traveler, please take a piece of me and bring it very far away."

"Um… sure. I just hope it doesn't melt."

"Don't worry," Chara said. "The snow here is magic. Where do you think it comes from?"

"Oh. okay." Kenichi took a small piece of the snowman. The snowman thanked him and headed back and to the east. There he came across Papyrus and Sans on the other side of a patch of gray snow.

"You're so lazy!" Papyrus yelled at his brother. "You were napping all night."

"I think that's called… sleeping," Sans said.

"Excuses, Excuses!" The two turned to face Kenichi. "Oh-ho! The human arrives!"

Kenichi gave out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, here I am," he said and took another step forwards.

"Stop where you are," Papyrus yelled and Kenichi froze. "In order to stop you, my brother and I have created some puzzles."

"Oh," Kenichi let out a sigh of relief. "It's just more puzzles. Thank god."

"You enjoy puzzles too?"

"That's not what I meant, but I do find them rather enjoyable at times. Hopefully you have some that are more challenging than the ones in the ruins."

"Wowie. Then you'll love this one. For you see, this is the invisible electricity maze!"

"What!?"

"When you touch the walls of this maze," Papyrus took out an orb a little larger than a fist, "this orb will deliver a hearty zap! Sounds fun, right?"

Kenichi knees began to shake. "I… I don't…"

"I can see you trembling with anticipation! Go ahead. Give it a try!"

Kenichi gulped. "Well... here goes nothing." Kenichi squeezed his eyes shut and took one step forwards. He stopped when he heard a zapping sound, but he didn't feel anything. Kenichi opened his eyes and saw Papyrus being zapped. He immediately took a step back. "Sorry!"

"Sans! What did you do!?"

"I think the human has to hold the orb," Sans said.

Kenichi let out a sigh of relief and was about to move forwards when Chara stopped him. "Wait, I want to see where this goes," she said.

"Are you crazy!?" Kenichi whispered.

"Come on, live a little."

"Living is exactly what I'm concerned about!"

"Come on, Papyrus is fine. Besides if you go through now, he'll get zapped again. Just play along, it'll make him happy."

"Fine."

"Human!" Papyrus called over. "Stay right there! I, the great Papyrus, will bring the orb to you! Then you can enjoy this puzzle to it's fullest potential!"

"Okay," Kenichi said as Papyrus walked through the maze. Kenichi soon noticed that Papyrus was leaving footprints, revealing the path through the maze. "Should I... say something?"

"And ruin the fun?" Chara said. "Let's see if he figures it out on his own."

"Here you are," Papyrus said and tossed the orb onto Kenichi's head. He then ran back through the maze at such an incredible speed that if the footprints weren't there, Kenichi would not have been able to tell the route he used.

"Okay, here I go," Kenichi said and carefully followed Papyrus's footprints.

"Incredible! You solved it so easily!" Papyrus's face grew suspicious. "Too easily. However, the next puzzle will not so be easy! It was designed by my brother, Sans! You will surely be confounded! I know I am!" Papyrus let out his nyehehe laugh and ran off.

"Hey," Sans said, "thanks. My brother seems like he's having fun."

"Sure," Kenichi said. "Don't mention it."

"By the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing?"

"Sorry, I think my eyes popped out of my skull. Check back later when I've reconnected them to my bones."

"Heh, good one kid."

"Did you," Chara said, "just make a pun?"

Kenichi shrugged. "Well, I'm not really a skeleton so I don't think it counts."

"Well you're talking to one and it's okay in my book. But as I was saying about my bro's outfit, he made it a few weeks ago for a costume party, but he hasn't worn anything else since. He keeps calling it his battle body. Man, isn't my brother cool?"

"Well, the outfit does look good on him, so I guess so."

"Well, see you around kid."

Kenichi walked over and found an ice cream salesman. "I don't understand why these aren't selling," the man said to himself. "It's the perfect weather for something cold."

"Um, no it's not," Kenichi said.

The man perked up. "Oh! A customer! Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just fifteen gold. How about it?"

Kenichi was about to tell him it was too cold for ice cream when his stomach growled. "Sure." He handed the man fifteen gold and the man gave him a ice cream cone with, You're just great!, written on it.

"Here you go! Have a super-duper day!"

"Why are you always so hungry?" Chara asked.

"What? Fighting for your life works up an appetite," Kenichi said as he ate the Nice Cream.

After he finished, he moved on and found Sans. "I've been thinking about selling treats too. Want some fried snow? It's just five gold."

Kenichi looked puzzled. "Fried… snow?" he said. "I don't know." Kenichi thought about it. "You know what, I have plenty of money. For five gold, I'll give it a shot."

"Did I say five gold? I meant fifty gold."

"Fifty!? For snow!? I don…"

"Wait!" Chara interrupted. "I want to see where this goes. Keep saying yes. You can always change your mind before giving him the money."

Kenichi sighed. "Sure."

"Really?" Sans asked. "How about five thousand gold?"

"Really!? I don't even..."

"Say yes," Chara told him again.

"Fine," Kenichi said.

"Fifty Thousand gold," Sans said. "That's my final offer."

"What in god's na… Sure, why not."

"It seems you don't have the money. Hey that's okay. I don't have any snow."

Kenichi's face contorted into a look that seemed to be a cross of extreme confusion and being extremely dumbfounded. "Don't have any!? What!? How!? Where!?"

Chara burst out laughing. "You should see the look on you face!" she said. "It's priceless!"

"We're surrounded by snow!"

"Huh," Sans said. "You're right. Who knew?"

Kenichi's face kept shiting into more and more extreme looks as he spoke complete gibberish and Chara continued laughing. Kenichi finally gave up and moved on.

He found a large snowball and a hole in the ground and diced to relax and play with it for a while. The ball kept on slipping around and it took some effort to get it in the hole. After he did an orange flag came up and read, You are the kind of person who rushes fists-first through all obstacles, and there was three gold in a pouch attached to the flag. Kenichi turned around and saw the ball was back where it started. He then turned back to the hole and the flag was gone. "Is this magic too?" he asked.

"I don't know," Chara said. "I guess so. Why not play again and find out?"

Kenichi decided that would be kind of fun and started again. Now that he knew what he was doing, he completed the course much faster and a red flag came out of the hole. The note read, Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at Ball Game, and there was fifty gold in the pouch. "Definitely magic," Chara said. " but I've never seen this one before. Must be new." Kenichi decided that was enough and moved on.

He soon came across Sans and Papyrus standing in front of the only way forwards. "Human!" Papyrus said when he noticed Kenichi. "I hope you're ready for," Papyrus paused with a confused look on his face. "Sans! Where's the puzzle!?"

"It's right there, on the ground." Sans said and Kenichi looked to see a piece of paper on the ground. "Trust me. There's no way they can get past this one."

"Should I even bother?" Kenichi whispered.

Chara shrugged. "Why not humor them," she said. Kenichi walked over to the piece of paper and picked it up. It was titled Monster Kidz Word Search. "Seriously? Can this guy get any lazier?"

"I guess he could have not left a puzzle at all."

"Let's move on."

"Nah, I think I'll do it."

"Why?"

"I just want a minute to relax is all. Besides this is the hardest puzzle so far."

Kenichi took a few minutes to finish the word search and then handed it to Sans. Sans looked it over and then said, "Good job kid."

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled. "That was supposed to stop him!"

"Yeah. I knew I should have used today's crossword instead."

"What!? Crossword!? I can't believe you said that! In my opinion, Junior Jumble is easily the hardest.

"What? Really dude? That easy-peasy word scramble? That's for baby bones."

"Unbelievable! Human! Solve this dispute! Which is harder, crosswords or jumbles?

"Um," Kenichi said, "crosswords… I guess."

"You two are weird! Crosswords are so easy. It's the same solution every time. I just fill all the boxes in with the letter z, because every time I look at a crossword, all I can do is snore!" Papyrus nyeh heh hehed and ran off.

"Papyrus," Sans said, "finds difficulty in interesting places. Yesterday he got stumped trying to solve the horoscope."

"Yeah, well," Kenichi said and then stopped short. "Wait a minute. That's perfectly reasonable! There's no stars down here! How do you have horoscopes!?"

"That's a good question."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Chara?"

"Don't look at me," Chara said. "I never heard of horoscopes down here either. I think Sans makes this stuff up as he goes along."

Kenichi sighed and moved on. He came to an area with two tables and a note. One table had a plate of spaghetti on it and the other had a microwave. Kenichi decided to read the note. "Human! Please enjoy this spaghetti. Little do you know, this spaghetti is a trap, designed to entice you! You'll be so busy eating it, that you won't realize you aren't making progress! Thoroughly japed again by the great Papyrus! Nyeh-heh-heh, Papyrus."

"Is this guy for real?" Chara asked.

"Seems so. At least he's having fun." Kenichi moved on to the spaghetti which froze to the table because of the cold. The microwave was unplugged and all the settings said spaghetti. It was then that Kenichi noticed the mouse hole.

"Knowing the mouse might one day find a way to heat up the spaghetti, it fills you with determination."

"First off, no it doesn't. Second there's no way that mouse can do that. The microwave is unplugged and the spaghetti is stuck to the table."

"I'm just having a little fun."

"Is this going to become a thing every time we pass a mouse hole?"

"Probably."

Kenichi sighed and moved on. He soon found himself blocked by spikes, next to a patch of loose snow. As he walked back, the snow was pushed out of his way and revealed a map of the area he was in. There as a red X in the northeast part of the area and Kenichi headed there, where he found a switch in the ground. He pressed it and heard the spikes lower into the ground. He moved on but was stopped by two dogs, one male, one female, dressed in black.

"What's that smell?" the male asked.

"Where's that smell?" the female asked.

"If you're a smell…"

"Identify yourself!" The dogs moved around, sniffing the area.

"Hmmm… Here's that weird smell. It makes me want to…"

"Eliminate you!"

There was a flash of light and Kenichi was in a fight with the two. "Um, let's check the guy," Kenichi said.

"Dogamy," Chara said. "Husband of Dogaressa. Knows only what he smells."

"Okay and what about this Dogaressa?"

"Dogaressa. This puppy find here hubby lovely. Smells only?"

"Let's kick human tail," Dogamy said.

"Do humans even have tales?" Dogaressa asked. The two barked and sent out blue and white hearts. Kenichi maneuvered around to be able to stand in front of the blue hearts only, but had trouble standing still and was knocked to the ground.

He got up and was about to dust himself off when Chara stopped him. "They only know what they smell, remember. The dirt will mask your scent."

"Got it," Kenichi said.

The dogs got in close and swung their axes at Kenichi. Kenichi yelped and jumped back. Afterwards the dogs sniffed the air. "What, smells like…" Dogamy said.

"Are you actually a little puppy?" Dogaressa asked.

"Quick!" Chara yelled. "They let their guard down! Pet them!"

Kenichi reached out and pet Dogamy. "Wow, pet by another pup!" Dogamy said.

"Well don't leave me out," Dogaressa said and Kenichi reached out to pet her too. "A dog that that pets other dogs. Amazing."

The mercy sign glowed and Kenichi ended the fight. "Dogs can pet other dogs?" Dogamy asked.

"A new world has opened up for us," Dogaressa said.

"Thanks, weird puppy!" The two walked away.

Kenichi took a deep breath. "That was too close," he said.

"Tell me about it," Chara said.

"Wait, were you worried about me?"

"No!" Chara said looking embarrassed. "Of course not! You're a human! I'm only helping you for fun! Whether you break the barrier or die and Asgore does it makes no difference to me!"

"Um… okay. Sorry." Kenichi sighed and moved on.

He soon came across an area with more spikes blocking the way, two X's on the ground separated by clumps of snow, a switch on the ground, and a sign. The sign read, turn every X into an O. The press the switch. Kenichi stepped on one of the X's and it turned into an O. "Okay then," he said and walked around the clumps of snow to step on the other X. Once that X was also an O, he stepped on the switch and the spikes lowered into the ground.

He walked forwards and was soon stopped by Papyrus. "What!? How'd you avoid my trap?" he asked. "And more importantly, is there any left for me?"

"Um," Kenichi said, "if you're talking about the spaghetti, I'm sorry but it froze to the table, so I couldn't even move it to the microwave, which was unplugged, much less eat it."

"So you were unable to enjoy the flavor of my home cooked pasta? I am sorry. But fret not human! I, master chef Papyrus, will make you all the pasta you could ever want!" Papyrus did his nyeh heh heh laugh and walked off.

"Okay then." Kenichi followed Papyrus as it was the only way forwards.

In the next area he found a very complex version of the X and O puzzle from earlier. "Human," Papyrus said. "Hmm, how do I say this? You were taking a long time to arrive, so… I decided to improve this puzzle, by arranging the snow to look more like my face. Unfortunately, the snow froze to the ground. Now the solution is different! And, as usual, my lazy brother is nowhere around. I suppose what I'm saying is… worry not human. I, the great Papyrus, will solve this conundrum! Then we can both proceed! Meanwhile, feel free to try the puzzle yourself! I'll try not to give away the answer!"

"Okay." Kenichi started to step on the X's and turn them into O's but ended up stepping on one of them twice which turned it into a triangle. He tried stepping on it again, but nothing happened. "What now?"

"Try hitting the switch," Chara said. "See what happens."

Kenichi did so and everything turned back into X's. "Good." He spent some time studying the maze and eventually plotted out a course to solve the puzzle. After he followed his path, he stepped on the switch.

"Wow!" Papyrus said. "You solved it! And you did it all without my help. Incredible! I'm impressed! You really do care about puzzles, just like I do! Well I'm sure you'll love the next puzzle then! It might even be too easy for you!" Papyrus did his nyeh heh heh laugh again and then continued forwards. Kenichi followed, saw Sans, and decided to stop and talk to him.

"Hi Sans."

"Hey kid," Sans said. "Good job solving that puzzle so quickly. You didn't even need my help. Which is great, cause I love doing absolutely nothing."

"Papyrus was right. You are the laziest person I ever met."

"Not cool kid."

"You right, it's cold."

"Heh, Good one."

"Did you just make a pun… again!?" Chara asked.

"It was too easy," Kenichi said. "I couldn't pass it up."

"I thought you hated puns though."

"They're okay every once and awhile."

"Hey kid," Sans said, "who are you talking to."

"Oh, uh, a ghost." Kenichi said nervously.

"Okay."

"I'll be going now."

"Okay."

Kenichi moved on to a room with a weird contraption in front of him, as well as Sans and Papyrus. "Wait, didn't we just leave Sans back there?" Kenichi asked confused.

"I. Told. You. So." Cara said one word at a time.

"Okay, you win he might be more powerful than he seems!" Kenichi said louder than he intended and the two skeletons noticed him.

"Hey!" Papyrus said. "It's the human! You're gonna love this puzzle! It was made by the great Dr. Alphys! You see these tiles?" Kenichi looked down to see a bunch of gray tiles. "Once I throw this switch, they will begin to change color. Each color has a different function. Red tiles are impassable. You cannot walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric. They will electrocute you. Green tiles are alarm tiles. If you step on them, you have to fight a monster. Orange tiles are orange scented. They will make you smell delicious. Blue tiles are water tiles. Swim through if you like, but, if you smell like oranges, the piranhas will bite you. Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, the water will also zap you. Purple tiles are slippery. You will slide to the next tile. However, the slippery soap smells like lemons, which piranhas do not like. Purple and blue are okay. Finally there are pink tiles. They don't do anything. Step on them all you like. How was that? Understand?"

"Did..." Chara said, "did you get all that?"

"Yeah, sure," Kenichi said. "I got most of it. I only have one question."

"Okay," Papyrus said. "What is it?"

"Is this dangerous? I mean electic tiles and piranhas. Is this safe?"

"Oh, well, um, probably. Do not fret human! If something goes wrong, I, the great Papyrus, will rectify the situation!"

"Um… okay it does sound like a decent challenge I'll give it a shot."

"Great! Then there's one last thing. This puzzle... is entirely random! When I pull this switch, it will make a puzzle that has never been seen before! Not even I will know the solution!" Papyrus Nyeh heh hehed. "Get ready!" Papyrus pulled the switch and the tiles began to rapidly change colors. They continued to flash until it settled onto a pick path with red to each side. There was a few moments of awkward silence and then Papyrus spun away.

"All that buildup," Chara said, "for that."

"Yeah, it was kind of a let down," Kenichi said and moved on.

* * *

Niijima came to a cute, tidy house in the middle of the ruins that seemed inhabited. He walked up and knocked on the door. The door opened and a goat woman was standing in front of him. This would be surprising if it weren't for the numerous amount of monsters he passed on the way here. Strangely though, they all seemed to leave him alone. "Oh, a child. I've never seen you before young one. Where did you come from?"

"Greetings," Niijima said. "I am Haruo Niijima. I have descended from the surface…"

"You came from the surface!?" the goat women said.

"Yes, now as I was saying…"

"You poor child. You were lucky enough to be a monster that avoided being sealed underground only to accidently come down here on your own."

'So that's why no one's attacking me,' Niijima thought. 'They think I'm one of them.' He gave a small but devious smile. "You haven't seen a brown haired human, have you?"

"Yes, why do you ask."

"He's an acquaintance of mine that I came down looking for."

"Oh, well he passed through here not to long ago. Here, I will show you the way. Come inside."

Niijima gave a demonic smile. "So he's still alive then. Excellent. This should be interesting."

"Child, are you okay?" the goat woman asked nervously.

* * *

Kenichi came to another X and O puzzle, but this one was surrounded by ice. He took one step on the ice and slipped all the way to the other side and fell off the platform, screaming.

"Seriously, you need to calm down," Chara said after he landed in the snow.

"Sorry," Kenichi said. He looked around and saw what looked like a snow Papyrus next to a lump of snow in the ground with Sans written on it with red marker. "Can these two be any more different?"

"I don't think so."

Kenichi followed a path back up and took a lot of time plotting a path to complete the puzzle before proceeding. After he completed the puzzle a birge formed, allowing him to continue forwards.

He came to a crossroad with one path heading south and one path heading east. He decided to head south first. There he found Sans. "What's up?" Sans asked.

"Nothing new," Kenichi said.

"Cool." Kenichi continued forwards and saw sans again. "Are you lost?"

Kenichi face contorted into a face of utter confusion. "But you were just over there," he said and pointed over to where he last saw him. He then notice that Sans was there. "What!? Are there two of you!?"

"Course not."

"Then how are you in two places at once!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Come on Kenichi," Chara said. "Let's just move on. This guy is freaking he out.

Kenichi did so when there was a flash of light and he was in a fight with a dear like monster with christmas tree like antlers that had decorations on them. Kenichi checked it.

"Gyftrot," Chara said. "Some teens decorated it as a prank." Snow rained from the sky and Kenichi carefully moved around it.

"It's okay I hate pranksters too," Kenichi said and moved it to remove a stocking filled with chicken nuggets.

That's a bit better," Gyftrot said and three presents appeared. One flashed blue and then the three shuffled. Kenichi tried to keep an eye on the one that was blue, but they moved too fast. The three stopped and came flying towards him. The blue one was blue again and Kenichi dove towards it, but was too slow and was hit by one of the others.

"Oww." Kenichi got off the ground and removed a striped cane that had, I use this tiny cane to walk, written on it.

"A little better." The presents came after Kenichi again and this time Kenichi did managed to reach the blue one in time, but was still sliding from the dive and got hit because he was moving.

"Oww." He got up and removed the last decoration, a lenticular bookmark of a smug teen winking.

"A weight has been lifted!" Gyftrot seemed over joyed and the mercy sign glowed. Kenichi ended the fight and moved on.

He came across a cave with a huge locked door in it. Kenichi inspected the area, but could not find any way to open it. Giving up, he headed back and went east.

He came to an area with a lot of snow poffs, one with thirty gold in it. He continued forwards until a dog popped out of one of the snow poffs. It yapped twice and rose out of the ground, revealing that it was in a huge humanoid suit of armor and was holding a spear. There was a flash of light and they were in a fight.

"Okay," Kenichi said slowly. "Check."

"Greater Dog," Chara said. "It's so excited that it thinks fighting is just play."

"Aww. Come here boy." The Greater Dog came bounding towards Kenichi and Kenichi pet it. It fell a sleep for a few seconds and then woke up. It patted the ground with it's front paws, that looked like hands at the moment because of the armor. Kenichi picked up some snow and made a snow ball. "Here! Fetch!" He threw the ball and it splat on the ground. "Um… that didn't work." Greater Dog ran over to where the snow ball landed, gathered all the snow in the area and brought it back to Kenichi. "Aww. Come here." Kenichi pet the dog and it seemed content. The mercy sign glowed and he ended the fight. Greater Dog hopped out of the armor, revealing that it was much smaller than it's armor, and licked Kenichi in the face. It then jumped back into the armor, it's tail popping out of where it's head should be, and walked off.

* * *

Papyrus waited with Sans at the end of a bridge leading into a town. "What's taking the human so long?" he asked.

"He probably 'slipped up' on your ice puzzle," Sans said and then laughed quietly.

"Sans!" He suddenly noticed the human crossing the bridge. "Human! This is you final and most dangerous challenge! Behold! The gauntlet of deadly terror!" A flame thrower, spear, and cannon rose from under the bridge. A spiked ball, spear, and dog wear lowered from the top. "When I say the word, it will fully activate! Cannons will fire! Spikes will swi…"

"You won't use that on me!" the human screamed and ran right past it and Papyrus before he could finish.

"Or that could happen."

"Don't sweat it bro," Sans said. "I'm sure it wasn't personal."

"Of course not! No one could have a grudge against the great Papyrus! That one was too easy to defeat the human with anyway! I shall meet him on the field of battle and then capture him there! Then Undyne will have let me into the royal guard!" Papyrus Nyeh heh hehed and ran into the town.

* * *

Kenichi gasped for air after he got past Papyrus. "Seriously!" he said. "The gauntlet of deadly terror! That's not a puzzle! That's a death trap!"

"Relax," Chara said. "It's over now. Don't hold it against the guy."

"I won't. I mean, he seems nice enough. I doubt that one was his idea." Kenichi looked up to see a extremely friendly looking town.

"The sight of a friendly looking town fills you with determination."

Kenichi looked around a bit more and saw a sign that read, Welcome to Snowdin. He groaned. "Even the town's name is a pun. Still, it is nice. Maybe I should relax for a while." Kenichi went around to explore. He came across a christmas tree and talked to a bear monster. He found out that the tree was a tradition here because of the teens that decorated Gyftrot. Other monsters gave it gifts to make it feel better and it became a tradition to leave gifts under a decorated tree.

Kenichi moved on and found a young dragon monster on the other side of the tree. "Yo!," the monster said. "You're a kid too, right?"

"Um, yes," Kenichi said.

"I knew it! I could tell cause you're wearing a striped shirt."

Kenichi looked down to see his favorite yellow and white striped shirt. "That's a thing here?" he asked Chara.

"More or less," she said.

Kenichi came across a place called Grillby's that seemed to be some sort of restaurant. He decided to hold off on going in for a little while. He continued to look around and found a library or at least he thought so. The sign said librarby. He decided to go in.

"Welcome to the library," a monster said from behind a counter. "Yes, we know. The sign is misspelled."

"Okay then, thank you for being so welcoming," Kenichi said. "Chara why is everyone so nice. I thought monsters were trying to attack me, or at least capture me like that skeleton."

"Much like Papyrus," Chara said, "most monsters never seen a human before, so they think you're a monster."

"Oh, well it's nice to be able to relax." Kenichi took out some books and began to read. He found some history books and science books that caught his interest. He thought it was fascinating that monsters body's were made of magic. Afters some time his stomach growled. "Well I guess it's time to go to Girllby's."

Kenichi left the library and headed to Grillby's to find out it was some sort of burger joint. He walked up the the counter and saw a monster that was fire wearing a suit. "Um, how much for a meal?"

The monster looked over to him. "Seventy gold," he said.

"What does it come with?"

"Burger and fries. It would come with a drink, but I can't handle liquid."

"Is there a way I could get a drink?"

The monster was quiet for a while. "Sure. I have a soda dispenser in the back. I never use it, but one day I plan to get an assistant that will handle dinks. You intrested kid?"

"No, sorry. I'm just passing through."

"Well, in that case, since I'm letting you in the back, the drink will be an additional ten gold. The full meal is eighty."

Kenichi handed over the money. "Thanks mister."

"The name's Grillby, and… don't mention it." Kenichi followed Grillby to the back, grabbed his soda and headed back to a seat by the counter. A few minutes latter Grillby came out with the food. "Here you go kid."

"Thanks again."

"You're welcome." Kenichi ate his food and went back out to explore the town. All he came across were houses, so he went back to the town's entrance.

He saw a shop and an inn and decided to go into the shop. "Hello, traveler," a rabbit monster said. "How can I help you?"

"I'm just here to shop," Kenichi said.

"Okay."

Kenichi came over to a bandana. "Hey Chara, can you tell me about this?"

"Manly Bandana," Chara said. "Armor defence seven. It has some wear and abs drawn on it."

"Okay, Mam, How much is this bandana?"

"Fifty gold," the monster said.

"Okay." Kenichi took out the money and handed it over to the lady.

"Thank you for your purchase." Kenichi let out a long yawn. "You seem tired. You should check out the inn next door. My sister runs it."

"Thanks. I will." Kenichi left, tied the bandana around his neck, and went to the inn.

"Welcome to Snowed Inn," said another rabbit monster behind the counter. "Snowdin's premier hotel."

"Snowed Inn?" Kenichi said. "That's the same pun as the name of the town!"

"What can I say? It's a pun so nice I used it twice."

Kenichi sighed. "How much for a room?"

"Eighty gold."

Kenichi reached into his pocket only to realize he didn't have enough money left. "I… I don't have enough. Is there somewhere else I can sleep for less?"

"You don't even have eighty gold? Oh you poor thing! I can't let you sleep out in the cold! One of the rooms upstairs is empty. You can sleep there for free, okay?"

"I shouldn't."

"I insist."

"Okay then. Thanks alot." Kenichi headed up the stairs and found the room, however there was loud snoring coming from the room next door. He tried to sleep for about two minutes before heading back down.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, there's loud snoring coming from the room next to me. I can't sleep."

"Oh you poor thing! I think I have a pair of earmuffs around here somewhere. Ah! Here they are. Here take these. They should help muffle the noise."

"I really shouldn't impose…"

"Don't worry about it. Just return them when you're done."

"Okay. Thanks alot. A real lot." Kenichi headed back up and went to sleep.

When he got up he stretched and yawned. "Good morning," Chara said. "Ready to move on?"

"Yeah," Kenichi said and headed down the stairs.

"Good morning," the innkeeper said. "You look like you had a great sleep."

Kenichi smiled. "Yeah. Thanks again."

"Oh, don't mention it."

"Well, here's your earmuffs back."

"Thank you. Come again." Kenichi left the inn and headed for the town's exit. As he got to the edge of the town he was surrounded by snow to the point where it was hard to see. He came to a stop when he saw the figure of Papyrus.

"Human!" Papyrus said. "What took you so long! I've been waiting here forever!"

"Wait," Kenichi said, "have you been here all night?"

"Yes!"

"Well sorry, but I had to sleep."

"Oh, okay then. While I was waiting I began thinking about some complex feelings. Feelings like… the joy of finding another pasta lover. The admiration for another's puzzle solving skills. The desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool. These feelings... They must be what you are feeling right now!"

"What?"

"I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way. After all, I am very great. I don't even wonder what having lots of friends is like. I pity you, loney human. Worry not! You shall be lonely no longer!"

Kenichi started smiling. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes! I the great Papyrus will be your…"

Kenichi's smile grew. "Yes…"

Papyrus paused. "No."

"Wait, what."

"No, this is all wrong! I can't be your friend! You're a human! I must capture you! Then I can fulfill my lifelong dream! Powerful! Popular! Prestigious! That's Papyrus! The newest member… of the royal guard!"

There was a flash of light and the two entered a fight. "Noooo! I was so close to having a friend!"

"Human! Focus on the battle!"

"I won't hurt you!" Kenichi placed his hand on the mercy sign.

"So you won't fight. Then let's see if you can handle my fabled blue attack!" A bunch of blue bones headed towards Kenichi and he just stood there. Suddenly his soul turned blue and a small bone headed towards him. He tried to sidestep it but found himself unable. He was hit by the bone and knocked to the ground. "You're blue now. That's my attack!" Papyrus gave out his Nyeh heh heh laugh. "Behold!" he sent more bones after Kenichi and with no other option, Kenichi tried jumping over them. He found himself able to jump surprisingly high and made it over the bones with ease. Kenichi continued not to fight and Papyrus said, "Yeah don't make me use my special attack!" After a few more bones that Kenichi jumped over a bone in the air appeared. Kenichi was still in the air and was hit. "I can almost taste my future popularity!" Papyrus started mixing blue bones into the mix and Kenichi had trouble stopping in time. "Papyrus, head of the royal guard!" The bones began to appear in ground and air at the same time and Kenichi had trouble getting the precision to make it through the gap. "Papyrus, unparalleled spaghettore!" Bones came from the the front and the back and Kenichi had to wait to the precise moment to jump in order to dodge them both.

"Um, excuse me, but are you still talking to me?"

"Quiet! Can't you see I'm monologuing!"

"Oh, okay."

"Seriously" Chara said. "You're just going to let him keep monologuing?"

"Why not? It's kind of fun to listen to."

Chara groaned. "Fine do what you want."

"Now where was I?" Papyrus asked himself. "Oh right! Undye will be really proud of me! The king will trim a hedge in the shape of my smile! My brother, well he won't change very much. I'll have lot's of admirers… but...how will I know if people sincerely like me?" Bones began moving up and down, making Kenichi have to time his jumps. "Someone like you is really rare. I don't think they'll let you go after you're captured and sent away."

"Yeah that's right," Kenichi said. "Maybe you should let me go."

"No! Who cares! Give up!"

"No!"

"Give up or face my special attack!"

Kenichi's knees shook. "Br...bring it."

"Well if you're so eager, the behold my special attack!" Kenichi saw a dog chewing a bone. "What the heck!? That's my special attack! Hey! You stupid dog!" The dog froze and it's eyes practically popped out of it's head. "Do you hear me!? Stop munching on that bone!" The dog garbed the bone and ran off. "Hey! What are you doing! Come back here with my special attack!" Papyrus waited, but the dog was gone. "Oh well. I'll just use a really cool regular attack. Here it goes." Bones came from all directions, then the dog ran by and Kenichi had to jump over it. Then there was bones spelling out 'cool dude' and a bone on a skateboard. After all that, there was a sea of bones followed by a galactic bone. Kenichi gulped, ran forwards and took a giant leap. He found himself soaring higher than any jump before and cleared the giant bone with ease. When he landed he wiped sweat off his forehead and was immediately knocked to the ground by a tiny bone.

"Oww," he groaned.

"Well," Papyrus said out of breath. "It's clear… you can't… defeat me! Yeah I can see you shaking in your boots! Therefore I, the great Papyrus, elect to grant you pitty! I will spare you human!"

"I, the cowardly Kenichi, will accept your mercy." Kenichi said and the fight ended.

"Why would you berate yourself like that?"

"Because I'm a coward. My knees have been shaking this entire time. It's so bad that every picks on me and I have no friends."

"Worry not human! I will be your friend."

Kenichi beamed. "Really?"

"Yes. And because we're friends I will make an allowance and let you pass. Who knew all I needed to make friends was to give people awful puzzles and then fight them? You taught me alot human."

"Um, I wouldn't try to do that to make more friends. I may not be an expert, but I know that's not how it works."

"As thanks I'll give you directions to the surface. Continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern. Then, when you reach the capital, cross the barrier. That's the magical seal trapping us all underground. Anything can enter it, but nothing can exit. Except someone with a powerful soul, like you! That's why the king wants to acquire a human. He wants to open the barrier with soul power. Then us monsters can return to the surface! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. To reach the exit, you will have to pass… through the king's castle. The King of all monsters. He is… well… he's a big fuzzy push over! Everybody loves the guy. I am certain if you just say, excuse me, Mr. Dreemurr… can I please go home?, he'll guide you right to the barrier himself! Anyways! That's enough talking! I'll be at home being a cool friend! Feel free to come by and hang out!" Papyrus Nyeh heh hehed and ran off.

"I finally have a friend."

"What am I," Chara said, "chop liver?"

"What, I thought you didn't want to be friends."

"What can I say, you've grown on me."

"So I have two friends, this is the best day of my life!"

"Except the fact you're bruised, beaten and still trapped underground."

"Small price to pay for some friends."

"So you're not going home?"

"Of course I am! Just enjoying the moment."

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Two things.

One, please review. I don't know what it is about my stories, but they never seem to get review, or at least they get very little. I'd like the feedback, whether you're giving me advice or just telling me what you think.

Two, I need a name for monster kid and I what to hear what you think it should be. If I don't get an answer I like, I'm calling him Spike.


	4. Chapter 3: Hangout

Hangout

"So what now?" Chara asked Kenichi.

"Well that fight really tired me out," Kenichi said. "And my… HP… is really low. I think I'll go by a cinnamon bun from the store and then take a nap."

"For someone so desperate to get home, you're sure taking your time."

"You can't rush these things. If I do I'll just end up dead."

"I guess you're right."

Kenichi headed back to the store. "Excuse me, but how much for a cinnamon bun?" he asked the monster behind the counter.

"Twenty-five gold," the monster said.

"That's alot for a snack."

It's my own recipe. I guarantee you'll love it or your money back."

"Well if they're that good, then I have to try it." Kenichi took out his money and was relieved that he had enough. "Here's the money."

Thank you." The monster handed over the cinnamon bun which was shaped like a rabbit.

"That's an odd shape," Kenichi said, examining the bun.

"Cinnamon Bunny," Chara said. "Heal's Twenty-two HP. A cinnamon roll in the shape of a bunny."

"Interesting," Kenichi said as he left the store. "By the way, I'm not sure how to measure my HP. Can you tell me how I'm doing?"

"You have one out of twenty HP. That cinnamon bun should fully heal you."

"Wait, I only have twenty HP? But this thing heals twenty-two."

"Well, your soul's LV is low, only one, so your HP reflects that. Not to mention, you're just a kid."

"Hey, like your one to talk!"

"I guess I did die pretty young."

"Oh, um, sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

Kenichi ate the cinnamon bun and his eyes widened. "That was amazing! I wish I had more money so I could by more."

"That good?"

"Yes." Kenichi sighed and went into the inn.

"Hello again," the innkeeper said "It's a bit early to turn in isn't it?"

"I'm not going to bed," Kenichi said. "I'm just here for a nap."

"Oh, okay here's your room key."

Kenichi took the key and headed up to the room. He got on the bed and fell asleep. He then woke up about fifteen minutes later.

"Now what?" Chara asked.

"I think I'll take Papyrus up on his offer to hangout," Kenichi said.

"You sure you don't want to move on? You've wasted enough time as it is."

"I finally have a friend I can hangout with. Let me have this." Kenichi look around and saw Papyrus in front of a house with two mailboxes, one that was overflowing with unchecked mail. "Hi."

"So you came back to see me! You must be really serious about this. I'll have to take you some place really special. A place I like to spend alot of time!"

"You don't have to do that. Anything is fine."

"Nonsense! We are very great! So our hangout must be as well! Now follow me! I know just the place!" Papyrus lead Kenichi Back to towards the town's entrance. When he reached Grillby's, he made a one-eighty and headed back to his house. "My house!" He ran in the front door.

"Seriously?" Chara said as Kenichi chuckled.

"He's already a lot of fun!" Kenichi said. "I can't wait to see what he does to hang out." He walked into the house.

"Welcome to my house," Papyrus said when Kenichi walked in. "Feel free to look around." Kenichi did so and found a rock with sprinkles on it first. The next thing he found was a sock with a bunch of notes attached to is. He decided not to ask. After that, he found twenty gold in the couch.

"Um, Papyrus, there was some money in the couch."

"Really? Well feel free to take it."

"Are you sure?"

"The great Papyrus is always sure!"

"Okay then." Kenichi pocketed the money and moved on. Next he found a joke book that he assumed belonged to Sans. He opened it up and found a quantum physics book, which Kenichi found odd because he didn't think of Sans as a scientist. He opened up the quantum physics book and found another joke book. "What?" Inside that was another quantum physics book. "Okay that's enough," Kenichi said and closed the book. He moved on to the kitchen and checked the fridge for no reason in particular. Half the fridge was filled with containers that were labeled, spaghetti. The other half contained nothing but a empty bag of chips. He walked over to the sink next, which was way too tall to be useable.

"Impressed? I increased the height of my sink! Now I can fit more bones under it! Take a looksy." Kenichi opened up the cabinet under the sink but didn't see a pile of bones. Instead he saw the dog from earlier still munching on Papyrus's special attack. "What!?" Papyrus screamed and the dog's eyes practically popped out of it's skull. The dog started to run away and Papyrus said, "Catch the meddling canine!" Kenichi gave chase but was too slow. "Curses!" Sans popped out of one of the rooms upstairs and played the wa wa sound on the trombone. "Sans! Stop plaguing my life with incidental music!" Chara snickered.

"Okay," Kenichi said. "what now?"

"Well, if you're finished looking around, we could go in my room and hang out like a pair of very cool friends."

"Okay." Papyrus lead Kenichi to his room.

"Here we are! Hanging out! I've actually never done this before."

"It's okay. Nether have I."

"Don't worry! You can't spell prepared without several letters from my name!"

Kenichi chuckled. "Okay."

"I snagged an official hangout guide book from the library."

"Something like that exists! I need to get myself one!"

"Indeed! But for now, let me show you how to hang out!"

"Okay."

"Let's see, step one press the c key on your keyboard to open the friendship hub."

"Um, I think that's a video game guide."

"Okay forget it. I think we're ready for step two. Step to ask them to hang out. Human! I, the great Papyrus, will hang out with you!"

"I think we're already passed that step, but okay. That sounds great."

"Really!? Wowie!"

"Why is he so surprised?" Chara asked. "You're already hanging out. Of course you'd say yes."

Kenichi ignored her. "Great what's next?" he asked.

"Let's see, step three, put on nice clothes to show you care." Papyrus paused. "Wait a second. Wear clothing. That bandana around your neck, that ribbon in your hair, you're wearing clothing right now! Not only that, earlier today you were also wearing clothing. No, could it be? You've wanted to hang out with me from the very beginning!?"

Kenichi chuckled. "Of course."

"Lier." Chara said.

Papyrus staggered as if he was hit. "No! You planned it all!"

"Papyrus," Kenichi interrupted. "I was just kidding."

Papyrus staggered again. "No! Your casual joking as if you've known me for years! You're way better at hanging out than I am! No! Your friendship power! Papyrus staggered again and Kenichi saw a bar in the area a the signs usually were labeled friendship power. It went up a little. "Nyeh. Nyeh heh heh! Don't think you've bested me yet!"

"I think you're taking this too seriously."

"I, the great Papyrus, Have never been beaten at hanging out, and I never will!"

Kenichi chuckled and decided to play along. "Okay then, bring it!"

"I can easily keep up with you! You see I too can wear clothing! In fact, I alway wear my special clothes underneath my regular clothes! Just in case someone wants to hang out! Behold!" Papyrus dash out of sight and back in fast than Kenichi could keep up. Now he was wearing a cool dude shirt, a pair of shorts, some kind of basket ball shoulder plates, and a baseball cap. "Nyeh! What do you think of my secret style!?"

"What the hell?" Chara said.

"Well," Kenichi said, "it's interesting."

"No!" Papyrus said. "A genuine compliment!" The friendship power bar rose practically to the top. "However, you don't truly understand the hidden power of this outfit! Therefore, what you just said is invalid!" The friendship bar lowered to the halfway point. "This hangout won't escalate any further! Unless you find my secret! But that won't happen!" Kenichi pointed to Papyrus's baseball cap. "What!? How'd you find out so quickly!?"

"It's the only thing then you couldn't have hidden under your normal clothes. There was nothing on your head before."

"No! What an amature mistake!" The friendship bar went up a little. "Well you found my secret. I suppose I have no choice!" Papyrus took off his hat and there was a present under it. "It's a present, a present just for you!"

"Thank you." Kenichi took the present and opened it to find a plate of spaghetti.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Of course. It's spaghetti."

"Right! But oh-so wrong! This isn't any plain ol' pasta. This is an artisan's work! Silken spaghetti, finely aged in an oaken cask, then cooked by me master chef Papyrus! Human! Time to end this! There's no way this can go any further!

Kenichi realized that the only thing he had to eat all day was that cinnamon bun and his stomach growled. He took one bite of the pasta and his face scrunched up in response. It was completely inedible.

"What a passionate expression! You must really love my cooking!"

Kenichi spat out the pasta "Actually, I hate to say it, but that was the worst thing I ever tasted."

"Your honesty! It show how much you care! You must really want me to improve!"

"Yeah! Go for it!"

"You care about my dreams, maybe even more than I do!" The friendship bar went up so high that it broke out of the bar and everything suddenly went white. "Human, it's clear now. You're completely obsessed with me. Everything you do every thing you say, it's all been for my sake. Human, I want you to be happy too. It's time for my to express my feelings. It's time that I told you, I Papyrus… hmm, well I'm flattered you care so much, but maybe cool it a little bit. You are a very nice person. I'm glad we're friends. But I think you can reach your max potential if you live more for your own sake, rather just for mine. Hmm… Hey I know the solution! You should hang out with my boss, Undyne! I think if you spread your friend-energy out more, you'll have a more healthy lifestyle. Yeah, let's be friends with Undyne!" Papyrus did his Nyeh heh heh laugh and walk away while Kenichi just stood there stunned.

Chara chuckled. "Guess you won," she said.

Kenichi's face turned bright red. "Shutup!" he said.

Papyrus came back over. "Oh," he said. "And if you ever need to reach me, here's my phone number." Papyrus took Kenichi phone and add his number. He then handed the phone back to Kenichi. "You can call me any time! Platonically. Well gotta go!" Papyrus nyeh heh hehed again and ran off.

"Well," Chara said, "that just happened.

"What a minute," Kenichi said. "I didn't give him my number. Did he put it in his phone?"

"I didn't even see him take out his phone." Kenichi ran out of the house, but there was no sign of Papyrus. Kenichi sighed and moved on.

He continued to the exit of Snowdin and entered a cave where he experienced an immediate change in the climate. The temperature became warmer and the air became humidity. All and all, it was much more comfortable than Snowdin's freezing cold.

"Hey kid," Kenichi heard someone call out to him. He turned to see Sans in a sentry-station. "Welcome to waterfall."

"What are you doing here Sans?" Kenichi asked.

"What, haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?"

"Two jobs? You?"

"Yeah. Two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"I was just about to go to Grillby's. Wanna come?"

Kenichi stopped to think about it when he realized that he hadn't had breakfast yet, unless you count that cinnamon bun. "Sure."

"Well, if you insist, I'll pry myself away from my work."

"You're the one who offered! And don't use me as an excuse to ditch your job!"

Sans started to walk farther into the cave. "Follow me I know a shortcut."

Kenichi sighed. "That's the wrong direction," he said under his breath.

"Come on," Chara said, "follow him! We might find out how he gets around like that."

"Okay." Kenichi followed Sans, blinked and was standing in Grillby's. "Wait how?"

"Fast shortcut huh?" Sans said.

"Well, yeah, but, Chara?"

"Don't look at me," Chara said. "Something blocked my Eye sight and next I knew, we were here."

"Hey everyone," Sans called out and all the customers greeted him back.

"Weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?" one asked.

"Nah, I haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. You must be thinking of brunch." The room erupted into a sourt burst of laughter.

"Seriously how does this avoid getting fired?" Kenichi asked under his breath.

"Here, get comfy," Sans gestured to a seat near the counter." Kenichi sat down and heard a fart noise. "Whoops, watch where you sit down. Sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats."

"Let's say I believe you're not the weirdo, what do I get?"

Sans chuckled. "How'bout a free meal?"

"Deal."

"Grillby, two meals here."

"Coming up," Grillby said.

Sans looked back to Kenichi. "So, what do you think of my brother. Isn't he cool?"

Kenichi thought about it. "Well I like him and all, but I don't know if I'd call him cool. But hey, he's a good friend and funny. Being cool is overrated as far as I'm concerned. I mean all the kids that I know that are considered cool are jerks. So he's better than cool to me."

"Well you're certainly honest with your feelings." Grillby came back out with the food. Here comes the grub. Want some ketchup?"

Kenichi looked at his burger. There was already ketchup on it and he didn't care if he had any on his fries. "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, more for me." Sans proceeded to drink the ketchup.

"Wait, did you just…"

"Anyway, cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries real hard."

"And he's ignoring me."

"Like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. One day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard and begged her to let him be in it. Of course she shut the door on him because it was midnight. But the next day, she woke up and saw him still there."

"Is skipping sleep a thing with him?"

"He does it on occasion."

"And how do you guys tell time down here. You can't see the sun."

"We still have clocks, although the time the were originally set to was just a educated guess. The time on the surface is anyone's guess."

"You know, I think that's the first time you gave me a straight answer about something like this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. So she woke up and Papyrus was still there. Seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. It's, uh, still a work in progress." Sans was quiet for a minute. "Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask you something." Sans suddenly became serious. "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?" Kenichi froze for a few seconds and then nodded. "So you know all about it. The echo flower."

"What?"

"They're blue flowers that all over the marsh. Say something to them and they'll repeat it over and over."

"Wait, is that what you were talking about?"

"Yes, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day. Sometimes, when no one else is around, a flower appears and whispers things to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement, predictions. Wierd huh? Someone must be using an echo flower to play a trick on him."

"I don't know. You see, when I was in the ruins, I was attacked by a golden talking flower. You might want to take your brothers words more literally."

"Interesting. Well either way, keep an eye out, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thanks." Sans finished his meal and got up. "Welp, that was a long break. I can't believe I let ya pull me away from work for that long. Grillby put the meals on my tab." Sans walked towards the door before turning back. "By the way, I was going to say something else, but I forgot."

"Wait but what if it was important?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Sans said and walked out the door.

"Wait," Kenichi chased after him. "I need to…" Once he got outside, Sans was nowhere to be seen. "How does he do that?"

"I don't know, but it freaks me out," Chara said.

"Hey, Kenichi! Is that you!?" a familiar voice called out from behind Kenichi.

"No," he said with a mix of surprise and fear as he turned around. There he saw the alien slash demon looking bully he knew as Haruo Niijima.

"I've been looking all over for you!"

"Niijima! Great! The only good thing about being stuck down he is gone! What are you even doing here!?

"Looking for you."

"No! Why did you come down here!?"

"To see what's here."

"No! What are you planing!"

"Nothing for once. I'm just here to see how this all plays out. Can the bullied weakling triumph in his quest to return home. Honesty I don't care how this ends, not as long as I stay entertained. And so far this place doesn't disappoint. An entire civilization of monsters living under this mountain. This is beyond my wildest dreams."

"Of course."

"Um," Chara interrupted. "You know each other?"

"Yes, he's bullied me for years."

"Wait, but there's supposed to be no monsters on the surface."

"He's not a monster. He's human."

"Yeah, and I'm Santa Claus."

"No, I'm serious."

"What, did humans start mating with demons since I fell down here?"

"I always felt he was more of an alien."

"Kenichi," Niijima interrupted. "Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, um," Kenichi said nervously, "a ghost."

"Actually," Chara said, "ghosts are a species of monsters and have souls. I don't have a soul any more. The only reason I can feel anything is because I'm connected to your soul."

"Then what are you?"

"A spirit, I guess."

"Isn't that the same thing as a ghost?"

"Then what would you call me!?"

"Excuse me for interrupting," Niijima said, "but what's going on?"

"She say's she's not a ghost," Kenichi said, "as ghost are a species of monster. She says she's more like a spirit."

"How do you know it's a girl? And why can't I hear her?"

"Well, she's connected to my soul or something, so I can see and hear her, but no one else can."

"Hmm, let me see." Niijima placed his hands hands on his face and so his thumb and index finger made a pair of glasses and the rest of his fingers were on his cheeks. "Niijima eye! Yes I see. She's rather young, and doesn't seem to fond of humans." Niijima removed his hands from his face.

"How'd you do that!?"

"See!" Chara said. "I knew he wasn't human!"

"It's one of my alien powers."

"Like that time you sunk into the wall to remain undetected?" Kenichi asked sarcastically.

"Exactly."

"You were just standing there with your face against the wall! The only reason you weren't caught was that they were too busy chasing me!"

"Fine then, don't believe me."

Kenichi groaned. "Come on Chara, let's go before we catch his crazy," he said.

"Agreed," Chara said.

"Didn't I tell you that I'm coming with you?" Niijima asked.

"No and you're not welcome!"

"To bad, there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Kenichi," Chara said. "Do me a favor. Kill him and only him!"

"I'd love to, but I still don't want to kill anyone," Kenichi said. "Fine, you can come, but keep your mouth shut!"

"I make no promises." Niijima said.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: One, I still need a name for Monster Kid. Please PM me if you have any ideas.

Two, Please please please review. Hearing from my readers is one of the things that keeps me going.

Three, I'd like to address Raj8's comment that Kenichi forgot about Ryuuto/Odin. I'm writing this as if Kenichi never knew Ryuuto/Odin. Not because I don't like him, he's actually one of my favorite characters, especially when you get into the manga, that I HAVEN'T finished so no spoilers. It's just that to get Kenichi friendless personality at a younger age, he couldn't have had friend before the start of this story. And I didn't want to use an older Kenichi because, one, I wanted it to be a child in the underground and two, it it was after kenichi started training, he definitely would fight back instead of act. But thank you for the compliment and if I make a sequel to this story when it's finished Ryuuto/Odin will definitely be in it.


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